Links

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Here is my finished Tivoli T-shirt! I just bound off, wove in the ends and blocked it! I finished it just on time to wear on the vacation I'm leaving for at 1 pm today. This top will be perfect while I'm visiting Phoenix and Scottsdale-- the temperatures there are still around 100 degrees but my top will keep me feeling nice and cool. And hopefully I'll get a nice shot of myself actually wearing the top while I'm away. (I'm sick of taking pictures of myself in the mirror.) I had just enough yarn to finish this project-- literally I only had about 24 inches of yarn left after the BO. This was such a fun, quick project!

Auf Wiedersehen

Well, its official. I've spent 2 full weeks without the hubby and I did not accomplish the 'serious' knitting I dreamt of on the eve of his departure. Granted, I finished a pair of socks and I'm down to the last 5 or so rounds on my Tivoli T, but that is the only knitting I did! Looking back, I know where my time went. I read a number of books, watched even more movies, and had 3 intense nights of playing scrabble with the one person I am friends with in El Paso. I feel pathetic admitting I have only one friend, but, this friend has lived here twice as long as me and he hasn't made any friends besides me yet, either. Moving to a new place is kinda tough, I've realized.

Tomorrow I'm going on the trip with my parents that I've been looking forward to so much. We are going to the annual hot air balloon fest in Albuquerque. I can't wait to see all the balloons! I love traveling with my parents, but I'm looking forward to coming back because the day after I return I get to go pick up my DH at the airport. His birthday is this sunday, but obviously we're waiting to celebrate it until we're actually together. I'm going to bake him a carrot cake from scratch. I think I cook and bake more than the average urban twenty-something, but the idea of baking a carrot cake from scratch seems like a huge deal to me, for some reason.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Where have I been?

My I haven't posted for quite a while. Well, I guess it was just about a week since my last post. I thought that while my husband is away (3 weeks military training) I'd write plenty of posts, but instead I seem to have spent a lot of time knitting, reading and watching movies. I have watched so many movies recently! Two of my favorites were Almost Famous and Employee of the Month. I watched House of Flying Daggers and thought it was a major dissappointment compared to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I've also been busy because the day after my husband left I began substitute teaching.

Happily, this Thursday my parents are coming into town and we're taking a road trip through New Mexico into Arizona where we'll spend a few days at the delightful Boulders Resort and Spa, but we'll only go there to relax after we've been to Ruidoso, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Flagstaff, along with any interesting sights we see along the way!

Well here is my Tivoli T so far. It ends just below the bottom of the picture-- I tried it on right after I finished the decreases. I am extremely pleased with how it is turning out, especially because my guage was pretty far off, so I decided to knit the very smallest size, which I would normally never be able to squeeze into! But, with this yarn it is coming out to just the right size! The yarn is a cotton blend that I purchased in Portugal this past march. There was no ball band with it, and I bought it in a typical Portuguese yarn shop where they sell yarn by the kilogram!

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Hurray, I finished my first pair of socks! The striping came out nearly identical, despite some problems with knotted yarn in the skein. What didn't come out as nearly identical are the toe decreases. The sock on the left is my first sock-- I like those decreases much better. The sock on the right is a little too pointy for my tastes. I didn't write down how I did the first decreases so I winged it on my second sock and unfortunately I didn't wing it the same way I did in the first sock.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Time for Some Serious Knitting

Well, my husband is away for the next three weeks. I'm trying to look at the bright side-- that I'll have so much more time to knit, but I can't help feeling lonely! I'm trying to ignore my feelings of sadness. I have three knitting goals for the next couple of weeks. Number 1 is very easy-- I have to fnish my second sock so I have a pair. Number 2 is more challenging-- I need to swatch some yarn and then begin knitting the Picovoli T-shirt. Number 3 is my ongoing project-- I want to make a little more progress on my knit afghan. I do not have enough yarn for this project and I have yet to find a suitable yarn to use for the border, so my going has been slow because it just isn't exciting to knit a project that I know I can't finish for lack of yarn.

Anyway, I'm very excited by my knitting prospects. What's even more exciting is that my intrepid parents are going to visit me in two weeks and solve my loneliness problem and take me on a wonderful odyessey through New Mexico and Arizona. The trip will be heavenly... details later.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

I knit a sock! I knit a sock! My first sock! Overall, I am very happy with the results of my first sock. Note, that is just one sock-- I still have to knit the other one! Turning the heel was far easier than I expected-- I only encountered two problems: 1) somehow I have a small hole in the heel-- it looks like a dropped stitch but I didn't drop any stitches. I'll be able to sew up the hole invisibly, but I'm still upset that it is there. 2) this problem is a little larger. Once I had turned the heel, I didn't like the way it felt to knit in the round with more stitches on the instep needle than on the other two needles... so, I just put an equal number of stitches on each needle. This solution caused my toe decreases to be in the wrong place-- they're on top of my toes instead of on the sides! Oops! Oh well, I plan on making my other sock to match! My next pair of socks will be better.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Socks socks socks!

No, I did not knit these socks. These socks were knit for me by my mother about two years ago. Ever since they have been nagging me saying 'when are you going to knit yourself a pair so we have some company?' I'm using these socks as a guide as I knit my first pair on my own.

Here is what I have so far on my first pair of socks! I don't even think it is an inch, but I'm proud of it. I have been meaning to cast on these socks for quite a while and I finally got started today. I love the color-- they'll look so nice this winter! (As long as it gets cold enough here in El Paso to actually need wool socks!)

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

This is a view from way up high... we were driving through a neighborhood admiring the houses and the beautiful wildflowers that seemed to be everywhere. Driving up these steep hills was a pleasure-- riding my mountain bike up them each day is a whole 'nother story!

No knitting here

Oh dear, I haven't knit for days! Granted, four of those days were spent in beautiful Ruidoso, NM. My husband and I had an amazing labor day weekend. We drove up to Ruidoso with our mountain bikes and took beautiful rides each day. It was so refreshing to be among trees and bushes, not just scrubby desert plants! Now, of course, I'm back to the job search. It just struck me that I, being a former teacher, would make an excellent tutor and I think I need to spread the word that my services are available. That will be tomorrow's goal-- for now it is time to knit a little and then maybe I'll get around to posting a photo or two of lovely Ruidoso.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Googled images. I saw this on a few other blogs and I couldn't resist using it to procrastinate before going to bed. I'll start off with #1, my first car. A 1992 black jeep cherokee. My car was hotter than the one in this picture!

#2, place where I grew up. I grew up in a beautiful town in NJ. Yes, beautiful places do exist in NJ-- Rumson is just one of many. This is a picture of the Navesink River. Rumson is a peninsula between two rivers and the Atlantic. I love the water. And I miss it.

#6, favorite drink. I love mojitos. The mojito, or maybe just a mint julep, will be the signature drink at my wedding next summer. Yes, i'm already legally married... the ceremony and reception are to follow-- about 10 months from now.

#8, favorite smell. This one may seem odd to a few of you. I love the scent of this specific deoderant (especially when my husband is wearing it). Unfortunately, this scent has been discontinued by speedstick! Horror!